On Jan 21, 1:12*pm, Terry wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:03 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins
...
A reasonable test. *Something else just came to mind: *does the wire
fizz with new, clean HCl? *If so then I'm stumped (for the moment at
least). *If not, it may be that the crud in the old HCl has gunk** in
it that makes it capable of dissolving stainless steel. *Nitrates or
possibly sulfates.

Terry
**A technical term used often in chemistry. *:-)

Gunk isn't the same as crud:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_r...ified_deposits

jsw